Comedian, Wrestler Couple Hang on to House in Foreclosure Limbo

By David McLaughlin -
Nov 15, 2010

Comedian Lynn Moore and her husband,
retired pro wrestler “Cougar Jay,” were on the verge of losing
their St. Augustine, Florida, home when PNC Financial Services
Group Inc.’s foreclosure hearing was canceled last month.

Moore, who runs a comedy club under the stage name Jackie
Knight, and her husband, whose real name is Dion, last made a
mortgage payment in mid-2009. She said they need to stay put
until at least January, when Dion, 50, expects to receive a
federal education grant they can use to rent a new home.

They are among the hundreds of thousands of Americans who
dwell in the limbo between homeownership and eviction as banks
and courts sort through foreclosure cases. Questions over the
legitimacy of mortgage documents used by banks such as Wells
Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp. have triggered litigation
nationwide. As a result, foreclosure proceedings have been
delayed, buying time for homeowners in default.

“If they tell me I have to be out before then, I’m going
to be in big trouble,” said Moore, 63, who has faced
foreclosure since March and tried to negotiate lower payments.
“I’m going to have no money and no place to go.”

The delays mean people like Moore, who inherited her
mother’s house and the $2,200-a-month mortgage payments that
came with it, are lingering in their homes for free and longer
than would be possible otherwise, in some cases for years, as
lawsuits drag on.

‘Slow-Moving Animal’

“It’s a slow-moving animal and, in the case of
foreclosures, there are a multiple of defenses to a foreclosure
action,” said Chae duPont, a Miami attorney who defends
homeowners and hosts a radio show about mortgage law.

Some homeowners, like Moore, aren’t contesting their
foreclosures and expect to leave when their homes are seized.
Some are holding out for loan modifications, while others vow to
defeat the banks’ claims on their homes.

“The fact that they’re in default, to the extent that the
loan has proceeded to foreclosure, is an indication that likely
any attempt they’ve made, or lenders have made to assist them,
have not been successful,” Courson said. “The end result is
still going to be the same, unfortunately.”

Delays Add Costs

The delays just add to the cost of foreclosures for banks’
mortgage-servicing operations, he added.

“These houses, the longer they’re off the market, the
longer values stay down, the longer the inventory stays out
there and the longer the process gets dragged out,” Courson
said.

About 1.2 million homes in the U.S. are in foreclosure,
according to RealtyTrac Inc., which compiles foreclosure data.
Homeowners are living in about 840,000 of those properties, the
Irvine, California-based company estimates.

Home seizures in the U.S. fell 9 percent in October from
the previous month, the biggest decline in a year. In the 23
states where the law calls for judicial proceedings, the average
foreclosure takes 271 days, compared with 147 in 2006, before
the housing bust, RealtyTrac said.

Karen Pooley, 48, of Seattle, hired a lawyer in August to
fight foreclosure on her second home, where she lives, just days
before a scheduled Aug. 27 sale. The case, in which Pooley
claims documents were improperly transferred, is in litigation
and there’s no sale planned, she said in a phone interview.

Pooley sued Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America
and Quality Loan Service Corp. in Seattle’s King County Superior
Court to stop the foreclosure. The companies have no lien on the
property and don’t have a right to seize the home, she said in
the complaint. Pooley is also alleging violations of Washington
state’s Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

She bought the 92-year-old house, which she described as a
“two-bedroom shack,” in 2006 for about $400,000. She said she
planned to build a new house on the lot and sell it, expecting
to make about $250,000. Pooley said she planned on using some of
the proceeds to pay off the mortgage on her other Seattle home
and save the rest for retirement.

Pooley, who stopped paying the mortgage more than a year
ago, is renting out her first home, which isn’t in foreclosure,
and can’t move back because she said she can’t afford its $2,600
monthly mortgage payments. She contributes about $800 to that
mortgage and the rental income covers the rest, she said.

“If I lose, I will lose everything I’ve worked for,” she
said. “This house has been nothing but misery.”

Jumana Bauwens, a spokeswoman for Bank of America, declined
to immediately comment. A representative of Quality Home Loan
Service didn’t return a call.

When judges throw out foreclosure cases, homeowners can try
to wait out the statute of limitations, which in Florida is five
years, Wasylik said. The law gives a bank a five-year window to
file a successful foreclosure action. After that, lenders are
blocked from foreclosing, the lawyer said.

Loan Modification

Some homeowners seek to negotiate loan modifications,
continue making payments and stay in their houses, said Wasylik.
Those in default after a trial modification may argue they were
misled by banks, making it easier to reach a settlement that
leads to a permanent modification, he said.

Other homeowners aren’t interested in saving their house,
he said. They want to negotiate a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure,
which gives up the property in exchange for a release from all
obligations under the mortgage, Wasylik said.

“It’s not like a life of luxury waiting and wondering
whether you’re going to lose your house any minute,” the
attorney said. “You’re not writing a check every month, but
it’s not a lifestyle anybody would be jealous of.”

Ron Gillis, 46, has chosen to make a stand, disputing the
notion that he’ll ever be forced out of his of Port Charlotte,
Florida, home. Gillis, who made his last mortgage payment in
September 2007, said in a phone interview that he was expecting
to lose his house when he received a foreclosure notice in
January 2008.

Irregularities

After returning from a temporary job as a subcontractor on
a Federal Emergency Management Agency project in Texas in the
fall of 2008, he said he found what he called irregularities in
the transfer of his mortgage between financial institutions.
Gillis, doing his own legal work, is appealing a judge’s ruling
rejecting his request to dismiss Deutsche Bank AG’s foreclosure
case.

As the three-year anniversary of his foreclosure notice
approaches, Gillis, who once was packed up and ready to move,
said he plans to stay put. He said he can beat a foreclosure
lawsuit and never make another mortgage payment.

Once valued at about $200,000, his property is now assessed
at about $66,000, Gillis said. Deutsche Bank claims he owes
$184,169, he said.

“I’ll take as long as it needs to take,” he said. “I’m
not going anywhere.”

Moore, the St. Augustine comedian, isn’t contesting her
foreclosure and can’t afford an attorney. Even without paying
their mortgage or property taxes, the couple hasn’t been able to
save money because Dion, who in his days as Cougar Jay grappled
with wrestling luminaries including Ric “The Nature Boy” Flair
and Dusty Rhodes, was seriously injured in a car accident.

Suspended Foreclosures

Fred Solomon, a spokesman for Pittsburgh-based PNC,
declined to comment on their case. PNC in October suspended most
of its foreclosures while it reviewed its procedures, he said.
The review is continuing as new foreclosures proceed.

“It’s hard being a comedian and running a comedy club with
all this going on,” Moore said. “I’m crying all the way to
work. Then I have to be funny.”

She’s due back in court in January and a trial is set for
February, according to a court order. Meanwhile, she said she
decorated her house early for the holidays.

“I never in a million years thought I’d still be here this
Christmas,” she said.